Mysterious oil spots showing up on right shoe

[rpickle]

Hi folks.  I have a bit of a weird situation here.  My '92 FJ started to leave oil spots on my right shoe the end of last summer.  I looked all over for the source but couldn't determine an origin!?  I took the bike out for last time before winter started for a nice 250 miles romp on a cool November day.  Not one oil spot....  This spring, I took her out for several short trips, no oil.  The other night i rode into work and my work shoe has oil drips on it!  The fork seals are a year old, but maybe I missed a burr.  Would they spit that much oil?  Would the cooler weather effect that?

Appreciate any help!

Rick

[Harvy]

Hi folks.  I have a bit of a weird situation here.  My '92 FJ started to leave oil spots on my right shoe the end of last summer.  I looked all over for the source but couldn't determine an origin!?  I took the bike out for last time before winter started for a nice 250 miles romp on a cool November day.  Not one oil spot....  This spring, I took her out for several short trips, no oil.  The other night i rode into work and my work shoe has oil drips on it!  The fork seals are a year old, but maybe I missed a burr.  Would they spit that much oil?  Would the cooler weather effect that?

Appreciate any help!

Rick

Rick, you would know if it was the fork seal.......the fork leg would be wet with oil.
I'll be game and suggest that it is possibly one of the cam cover bolt grommets that is leaking......if so, replace all the grommets at once and be careful not to over tighten the bolts - the grommet acts as a seal, the bolt itself seats on the cover and can be snapped easily if over torqued.
It may also be a leaking cam cover gasket...... don't assume that because its your right boot, that the leak is on the rhs somewhere.......if its leaking at the head, the oil can travel!
Also, check the bung in the crankcase on the rh end of the crank, it is sealing the end of a main oil gallery..... it has a small o-ring seal which may be leaking?

report back what you find mate.

Harvy

[rpickle]

Thanks for the tips Harvy.
I'll get to it soon (in a day or so) and report back.

Rick

[TRoy]

Hi folks.  I have a bit of a weird situation here.  My '92 FJ started to leave oil spots on my right shoe .  Not one oil spot....  my work shoe has oil drips on it! 

Rick, hopefully it is oozing out from the oil filler cap o-ring, or possibly from the valve cover gasket & bolt grommets.... if not then you'll probably have to pull the head to replace the head gasket and oil passage o-ring.

clean it up nice & dry, go for a ride then look for oil seeping out where the cylinder head meets the cylinder.

Good luck

[Arnie]

If you clean the engine well, you can then sprinkle it with talcum powder or corn starch.
Start and run the engine for 5 min or so varying the rpms.  You'll see where its leaking :-)

Either powder will wash off easily, too.

Cheers,
Arnie

[rktmanfj]

If you clean the engine well, you can then sprinkle it with talcum powder or corn starch.
Start and run the engine for 5 min or so varying the rpms.  You'll see where its leaking :-)

Either powder will wash off easily, too.

Cheers,
Arnie

Spray on foot powder works well for this.

Since no one mentioned it... if it is one of the valve cover bolt rubbers, be careful not to overtighten on reassembly.  They can be twisted off quite easily, I hear.

Randy T
Indy

[smokamoto]

I had a similar problem; boot and other parts only got sprinkled at freeway speeds.  Tried Arid Extra Dry powder deodorant (bike smelled nice), locking the throttle at 2,500 rpm with a fan in the driveway for 10 minutes, still couldn't see exactly where it was leaking from.  Knew it was from the head gasket area.  Anyway, turns out it was from a previous owner ham-fist assembly; the oil galley o-ring between the head & cylinder was chafed on one side so the leak only happened at full oil pressure.  I was really happy to see what it truly was, and not porosity in the head or cylinder.
Good luck!

[rpickle]

I'll give the foot powder a try.  Appreciate all the tips.

Rick

[Dan Filetti]

One other thing.  Ensure that your oil level is not too high.  The FJ will vent oil out of the crank case brether (I think it's the CCB -someone check me on this please) if the there is too much oil in the bike.  Had this happen to me once sprayed oil all over the engine.  Made a real mess.  Luckily it did not get on the back tire...

Probably not it, but worth checking.

Dan

[rpickle]

Thanks Dan, but I am pretty sure that is the right level.  I always check it on the center stand and never go over the fill-to mark.

Good thought though.

Anybody have a line on a cheap set of the valve cover grmets?  Bikebandit wants 3 something for them.  Seems a bit steep since I should replace the 8 of them and the valve cover gasket.

Appreciate the help.

I have the bike in the shed for the weekend, so hope to give it good looksy.

Rick

[rpickle]

Took the upper fairing off.  Geez, that is disappointing.  Came off easy, espeacially since 3-4 tabs were broken off!  Ugh....

Anyway, the wet spot on the engine is located around the front where the 2 10mm nuts are facing down.  That must be where the cam chain expansion is in the head.  I backed off the nuts, then retorqued them.  I doubt that works.  Looks like a bit of a major job.  Is there an o-ring that goes around that area or is it strictly a gasket?

Bummed....

Rick

[racerrad8]

I have them in stock as well as the V/C gasket. I do not recall the price as I am not at the shop. I will let you know tomorrow.

Randy - RPM

[racerrad8]

No, it is only the head gasket. There is not any pressurized oil in that area, so it is going to be hard to get an exact location of the leak. You need to check the V/C gasket, as you mentioned before, carefully and make sure it is not running down. It can be leaking from the center area of the gasket and running out through the moisture drain holes around the studs to the front of the head area you are describing. I would venture to say it is probably the gasket/grommets.

In the race car, due to the mounting and cooling of the engine sideways, the head is also prone to cracking where the fin butts against that area where the chain area heads towards the front of the head. You will need to clean everything well by pressure washing first and then cleaning with a brush and brake clean.

I can send a picture of a welded head that I have on the bench to give you and indication of the problem area. I use a propane torch to heat the area and the crank becomes obvious right away.

It can be welded but it must be done by a competent TIG welder. I have repaired a bunch of these that were not welded properly and leaked worse after the first weld.

If I can be of assistance shoot me any email; randy@rpmracingca.com

Randy - RPM

[rpickle]

Thanks Randy.

The rest of the engine, north of the wet spot, seems dry.  I'll have better light today to look at it.

Looking at it last night, the oil was as fas back as the rear master cyclinder!  Did that in one ride, 'cuz I had just washed and waxed it.

Rick

[fj1289]

Have you done a compression check?  If you've got a cylinder that's not sealing well it could push oil through the breather like Dan mentioned with too high oil level.  Mine would oil the right side of the bike like you describe when I had a cylinder sealing issue. 

Keep us posted and Good Luck!

Chris